FRANCK MULLER AND LOES VAN DELFT BRING PJIPJE TO THE WOMEN’S WRIST

Franck Muller’s latest collaboration with Dutch artist Loes Van Delft brings the playful Pjipje character to a new setting: a women’s watch created specifically around her artistic universe. Unveiled on 25 August 2026, the Pjipje women’s watch follows the success of the earlier Pjipje men’s watch and Skull watch, marking the first ladies’ timepiece developed by Van Delft and Franck Muller together.

At the centre of the creation is Van Delft’s distinctive visual language, known for its bright colours, expressive characters and deliberately playful sensibility. Rather than simply reproducing an existing image, the collaboration begins with an original canvas created by the artist. Franck Muller then translates that artwork into the much smaller proportions of a watch dial, preserving its colours, proportions and visual character while adapting it to the demands of watchmaking.

That process gives the dial an unusual importance. It functions not merely as the surface on which the hours are displayed, but as the principal artistic element of the watch. The miniature composition is built through approximately 30 layers of lacquer, each carefully applied and allowed to dry before the next is added. According to the Maison, approximately one hour of drying time is required between layers. The accumulated process creates depth within the colours while allowing the details of Van Delft’s original artwork to remain legible at a considerably reduced scale.

The result sits within Franck Muller’s sculptural Vanguard case, giving the vivid dial a distinctly architectural frame. Crafted in stainless steel and hand-polished, the case carries coloured inserts on either side that correspond with the two versions of the watch. The blue interpretation is paired with mariner-toned detailing, while the pink version adopts its own colour-matched accents.

For those seeking a more jewellery-oriented expression, each colour is available with a diamond-set case. The stones are individually set by hand, introducing a contrast between the polished steel construction and the brilliance surrounding the artwork. The versions without diamonds take a more graphic approach, allowing the colour and composition of the dial to remain the dominant visual feature.

The proportions also distinguish the women’s model from its predecessors. The Pjipje women’s watch uses a 32mm Vanguard case and is fitted with a colour-coordinated alligator strap. The blue edition is matched with a blue strap, while the pink version receives a corresponding pink treatment. A sapphire crystal protects the dial, and the timepiece is water-resistant to 30 metres. The movement is a quartz calibre displaying hours and minutes, with the movement components finished with Côtes de Genève and perlage.

The four variations are deliberately concise: pink with diamonds, pink without diamonds, blue with diamonds and blue without diamonds. The diamond-set pink and blue editions are each limited to five pieces worldwide, while the non-diamond versions are each limited to 20 pieces. Each watch is accompanied by a special giclée print, extending the artwork beyond the wrist and creating a physical connection between the original artistic work and its horological interpretation.

Van Delft’s involvement gives the collaboration a distinctly contemporary character. Her Pjipje figure developed from the artist’s broader practice, which has been shaped by bright colours, cartoon-like forms and an intentionally quirky visual vocabulary. Van Delft graduated from the St Lucas Art Academy in 2012 and held her first solo exhibition in Amsterdam in 2011. Franck Muller previously collaborated with her on the Vanguard Color Dreams Loes Van Delft Limited Edition, bringing Pjipje into the Maison’s world through another highly colourful interpretation.

For Franck Muller, collaborations of this nature complement a watchmaking identity built around unconventional design and complicated mechanical creations. The Maison was founded in Geneva in 1992 by watchmaker Franck Muller and Vartan Sirmakes, following their meeting in 1991. Muller had already established himself through work on highly complicated watches and world-first mechanisms, while Sirmakes brought experience in fine watchmaking and production. Together, they created a manufacture intended to combine original design with Haute Horlogerie expertise.

The brand’s philosophy has continued to centre on the relationship between technical watchmaking and distinctive design. Its manufacture, known as Watchland, is located in Genthod near Geneva, where the Maison develops its timepieces and mechanical complications. Franck Muller continues to emphasise in-house development across its watchmaking complications, from the initial concept through to the completed timepiece.

That heritage makes the Pjipje collaboration an interesting departure from the conventional language of high watchmaking without abandoning its underlying discipline. The artistic concept is deliberately expressive, yet its translation requires patience and precision. The dial’s layered lacquer, hand-applied details and individually set stones all rely on processes in which small variations can alter the final appearance.

The contrast between the playful artwork and the formal construction of the watch is particularly apparent in the diamond-set versions. The stones introduce the language of fine jewellery, while the Vanguard case maintains Franck Muller’s recognisable sculptural identity. Without diamonds, the same artwork becomes more direct, allowing the saturated colour and graphic composition to carry the design.

The collection is priced at €12,700 for the plain-case versions and €19,900 for the diamond-set editions, according to Franck Muller.

For readers in the UAE, Franck Muller’s current official store locator lists two boutiques in Dubai: the Franck Muller Boutique at The Dubai Mall, Shop 191, Ground Floor, and the Franck Muller Boutique at Raffles The Palm Dubai, West Crescent, Palm Jumeirah. The Dubai Mall location also houses the Maison’s official after-sales atelier.

The Pjipje women’s watch ultimately occupies an intriguing space between illustration, object and timepiece. Van Delft’s artwork supplies its emotional and visual vocabulary, while Franck Muller’s case construction and meticulous dial work give that imagery a precise physical form. The result does not ask art to become traditional watchmaking, nor watchmaking to disappear behind art. Instead, it preserves the character of both — a colourful canvas reduced to the scale of the wrist, and a piece of Haute Horlogerie given an unusually playful point of view.